Chemist from Crownsville named top young scientist

January 02, 1998

Chemist Laura L. McConnell of Crownsville, who studies how pesticides reach the Chesapeake Bay by air, was named Herbert L. Rothbart Outstanding Early Career Research Scientist 1997 by the Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville.

The research service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific agency.

McConnell was honored for planning and conducting the first simultaneous measurements of air and surface-water concentrations of 20 pesticides in the bay during various seasons.

To be eligible for the award, scientists must have been with the agency less than seven years and must have earned their highest academic degree within the past 10 years.

In November, McConnell received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.